- My forehead is so shiny. You can see your reflection in it. Hi guys, how are you today? My name is Bailey Sarian and welcome to another episode of Murder Mystery and Make-up Monday. I'm out of breath. Okay. If you are new here,
every Monday, I sit down I do my makeup and I talk
about a true crime story. That's been heavy on my noggin. I do my makeup because
it keeps me busy while I tell a story. Yeah. That's why I do it. It's not about the makeup. I'm just doing my makeup
because like, it's, I just don't like sitting here,
just staring at the camera the whole time. It makes me very nervous and
uncomfortable and I would just rather keep myself busy and do my makeup. Okay. Anyways. End of rant. Thank you so much. If you like true crime and
you like makeup, then welcome. You made it. You're here. If you don't like true crime
and makeup, that's okay. There's a lot of other videos
on YouTube to choose from. You should hit that subscribe button. I am here for you every
Monday with a new video. And then also I upload on Saturdays. Those are just more makeup
related videos, and I'm also gonna start sprinkling in goodness. Also, I just want to shout out you guys. I see you all the time,
writing me that you and your boyfriend, your
husband, your girlfriend, your wife, whoever you guys sit down and you watch these videos. And I think that's really
cool that I'm bringing relationships together. I'm gonna add that to my resume, bringing relationships together. And one more thing, I
know, sorry, I hit 300,000 Subscribers and I was
like, Oh my God, what? And I cried because I'm a little baby. And I just want to say
big thank you to you guys. I appreciate you. I see you guys since the
ones that have been here since day one, like I
see you don't I see you. I know who you are. I recognize your screen
names all the time. And I just wanted to say
welcome to all the newbies. I appreciate you for subscribing. It means more than, you know, and it's cool that, you
know, we just kind of found something that we both,
I have food in my teeth. I just want to say that. I appreciate you guys. Thanks. Okay. Enough blabbing. Let's get into today's story, which is about Mitrice Richardson
and her very sad story. Aren't they're all sad. If you are ever curious as
to what I'm using on my face I leave everything in the
description box below. Today I want to talk
about Mitrice Richardson and she was born on April 30th, 1985. Her parents were Latice
Sutton and Michael Richardson. Latice and Michael they had met as juniors
at their high school and then Latice had become pregnant. When she was entering her
senior year of high school she was determined, still
like to keep good grades and just to be successful in life. And she also had moved in
with her grandmother, Mildred and she was considered more as Latice's mother than her grandmother. So she was very close with
her when Mitrice was born her great-grandma Mildred,
she would watch over Mitrice. So the Latice and Michael
could go to school. And then when they graduated, also Mildred she would
watch over and Mitrice. So both parents could work. So Michael Mitrice's father, well he was working at a fast food restaurant and then he ended up to start
selling drugs on the side. It was a way to make easy money. It was quick. It was way more than what he made at the
fast food restaurant. And he was just kind of
living paycheck to paycheck. So he was like, okay, I'm just
gonna, you know, sell drugs. It's not what he wanted to
do, but it's what he did. Unfortunately, it just kind of got out of control and he ended up getting caught and he
ended up getting locked up. He went to jail and when he was locked up, Mitrice was four years old. So she was still pretty young. He was sentenced to serve
eight years in state prison. And then in 1993, he was released. But Latice, his girlfriend,
Mitrice's mother, she didn't want to wait around
for him while he was in jail. I mean, she had a family to take care of and she just had to keep
going with her life. He was in prison. She started to see other
people and she ended up meeting a guy named Larry Sutton and then the two would end up marrying and Larry would
become Mitrice's stepfather. So at this time they were living in Los Angeles and then in
1993, the LA riots are going on. And if you were in Los Angeles, like that's,
it was, I mean, I wasn't there. So I don't know, but based off of stuff I've seen there was growing violence. And then there was a lot of
racial tensions going on. So Latice and Larry made the
decision to move to Covina which is a Los Angeles suburb. It doesn't sound like it
would be that much different but it's way more quiet over there. I mean, I don't know what it's like now. Not that it matters. Okay. So it was just
more of like the suburbs. There was a lot of families,
there was more quiet and it gave Mitrice the
opportunity, build a good future, do well in school and
not be surrounded by all of this city violence that
was happening at that time. So from an early age obvious that Mitrice
was pretty smart cookie. Her mom would say in
interviews that she used to tell Mitrice all the time that
you can do whatever you want in this life but you have to make sure to
always give a hundred percent and she could achieve
whatever her heart desired. And then throughout school Mitrice, she always had super high grades. It would be said that Mitrice
would get kind of bored throughout school, because it
was almost too easy for her. I wish I had that problem in school. Oh, I look crazy. In middle school, she
joined the cheerleading team and she would continue well into high school where she was involved in multiple cheerleading competitions. She also loved dance. She loved dancing. She was someone that
everyone loved to be around because she was just so happy
and it was like contagious. And she just was, or sounded
like very very great person. In high school though, her interest in like
doing outdoor activities it began to change. Like she just had no interest in it. Like before, you know, she would play like outdoors sports or
go outside with her family and go for a walk, garden
with her grandmother her great-grandmother. Mitrice just kind of stopped
involving herself in that, like she took no interest in going outside. She started to say that she
didn't like being around like bugs and she didn't
want to get dirty. So instead she would just stay inside. She would do crossword puzzles. She would watch TV, dance,
write in her journal. So then when Mitrice got
her driver's license, I mean like for any teenager, that's
the best day of your life. And then you're determined like to not walk anywhere,
never walking again. I'm only driving. So according to her
mother, Mitrice's mother, she fell in love with psychology and learning about how the mind worked, why people did certain things they did. And she was fascinated just
overall with psychology. So then after high
school, Mitrice, she went on to Cal. State Fullerton,
and it was about 20 miles South of Covina, rather than commuting driving back and forth
every day Mitrice's mother, she suggested that
Mitrice move in with her great-grandmother, Mildred. That wasn't far from school. She was there living by herself. So she was more than happy
to have somebody come live with her because yeah,
you don't want to be alone all the time. So Mitrice was more than happy to go stay with her great-grandmother. She jumped right into the college life. She was just living it up. So Mitrice was the first
family member to attend college and like much like she did in high school she was crushing it. Then she quickly rise to the top. She'd gone to the Dean's list. And then she also found a job working at Santa Fe Springs Shipping Company. Mitrice stood out as a top
student and she decided she wanted to pursue a career in psychology. And she was determined to achieve that. And then in 2008, Mitrice
graduated Cal State Fullerton. And she was looking at
grad schools to pursue her master's degree in psychology as well. She taken a job dancing at
Debra's, which was a gay and lesbian nightclub in long beach. It might still be there, but
Mitrice, she used a stage name Hazel, and she printed business cards. And on the business card it had her picture obviously, her name and Mitrice's real father Michael. He didn't approve of her working at this night club. He warned her that this could
potentially lead her to a lot of trouble or get herself into trouble. But Mitrice said like,
she wasn't a stripper. She was just entertainment. You know, like a go-go dancer. And if you're a stripper,
there's nothing wrong with that either. So Mitrice tried to explain
this to him, but you know dads, they just don't understand. And then while dancing Mitrice decides to try modeling. So she began going to job
interviews in like sketchy ass areas and friends were really
concerned that she could end up in a really bad situation. And, you know, don't
meet up with these people in sketchy places, maybe
go to a public place but she wanted to pursue modeling. So during this time Mitrice
met this girl named Vanessa. And I guess it's hard to say
because some people were saying that they were dating and
some people were saying that Mitrice was really
interested in Vanessa but they weren't dating
because Vanessa technically had a girlfriend. There was some kind of like
love triangle going on. And Mitrice really
liked this girl, Vanessa and wanted to pursue her but Vanessa was not, had
the same feelings back. And then also during this time, Mitrice she had attended a party at the Playboy mansion
and she was a guest model. Friends could see that there was something
different about Mitrice. She seemed more stressed and irritated and they think it was because of the relationship that was
going on with Vanessa, again I'm not a hundred percent
sure what fully was going on but she was in the picture. Eventually Vanessa told Mitrice
since she needed to back off or at least she wasn't interested in her. And then that's when friends
really noticed a drastic change in the way Mitrice had begun acting. She just seemed really withdrawn. Mitrice used to like call
and text friends all the time and she just completely stopped. And if she did, it would be like weird text messages
that didn't make sense. And then friends noticed
like on her Facebook and her MySpace, because MySpace
was still around then I think they were constantly
being updated with random like thoughts and statements
at all hours of the day. One of the posts that
she had posted was, quote "Have you ever woke up at
7:00 AM crying on a Saturday? Cause now that you see the light you see all the people lost
in the dark," end quote. I mean, I've seen posts
like this before, I guess have I? have you? I don't know, but it was just different for something that
Mitrice would be posting. So as Summer 2009 was coming to a close. Her behaviors became more erratic and a little difficult to track. She started to withdraw more like from friends and from
family in text messages Mitrice would not make any sense. Like the, her sentences
would be disjointed and they didn't appear
to be connected to like any particular topic, her
explanations for her behavior. It made even less sense on one occasion Mitrice's mother, Latice. She had texted her
asking her daughter like, Hey what's going on? Mitrice responded with a
text message that said, quote "I'm writing a book because you told me I
can be anything I wanted. you told me I was miss America. You told me I was
America's next top model. Now, do you know what I
want to be when I grow up? Miss mother nature. Cause miss America is fake ass joke. So I'm trying to find my way to Michelle Obama to see if she will talk to Mr. Obama about creating my position within the white house." (sighs) end quote. So this is concerning
to her mother, at least cause like this isn't
something that Mitrice, like what, what is going? Is what her mom is realizing. Mitrice doesn't really
have an explanation. She's giving her kind
of like the runaround or giving her text messages like that, where it doesn't quite make sense as to just what's going on. You know? And then on September 16th it began like any normal last day. Like they always do in these
stories early in that morning Latice received a few text
messages from her daughter. That again, didn't make a lot of sense. And according to a coworker,
Mitrice, she had showed up to the shipping company that morning and she was in a really good mood. Everything seemed normal. But when Mitrice went on her
lunch break, she didn't return. She hadn't told anybody
where she was going or that she wouldn't be returning. And then on Wednesday nights Mitrice and her great-grandmother they would sit down
together and have dinner. But on this day, Mitrice,
when she got home she explained that she
had a change of plans. She told her great-grandmother that the ocean was calling her name. She needed to go to the beach. So she told her great grandmother, "Hey I'm gonna skip
dinner just for tonight. I'm gonna drive down to Malibu along the scenic
Pacific coast highway." And as far as Mildred
knew her great grandmother everything seemed fine. There was nothing concerning saying about her behavior or her plans. She didn't really think anything of it. Mitrice left the house at around 5:00 PM and
headed towards Malibu. At least we think sometime between 4:00 PM and 7:00 PM, Mitrice's
aunt, her name was Lauren but she came home and then
she saw like all over her lawn and the steps to the front door. There was a bunch of
business cards everywhere. And she, when she picked it up she looked and she saw
that it was Mitrice. Her business cards were
like scattered everywhere. And she thought, well, Oh, like Mitrice must have stopped by. And she must've dropped all of these. Why my Mitrice went there. Nobody really knows. Lauren, the aunt, she discovered a strange
note that was like tucked under the windshield wiper
of her husband's car. It was in Mitrice handwriting but it made no sense there
was a smiley face drawn on the page, along with
the statement, quote "I uncle Johnny, Jimmy," nobody knows. On the right hand side of
the letter was written quote "Black women scorned" end quote. Lauren, the aunt she wasn't
really sure what to make of it. I mean, what would you do? I don't know what I would do. I'd be like, okay, thanks. She didn't really overthink it. She would go on to say that she felt like in
the pit of her stomach that something just was
off something wasn't right. And if you ever have that
feeling, you need to listen to it. So it's believed that Mitrice had arrived in Malibu around 7:00 PM. She like stopped to watch the sunset. And then she got back into her car and began to drive along
Pacific coast highway which is a really beautiful area. You get a nice view of the
ocean and just really pretty. So while she's driving, she
comes across this restaurant. It's called Geoffrey's or Geoffrey's I think it's
Geoffrey's or Geoeffrey's. And let me tell you, this
restaurant is booshe. It's like one of those
places where bread costs $50, I've seen it. I've never been there before. They don't have a dollar menu. So Malibu is not really
a place that Mitrice, has spent a great deal over time in she sees this place
Geoeffrey's, and she's like she decides that she wants to go in and enjoy the view and then
get some good food as well. So she pulls into the parking lot and the parking is valet only. valet man explained that like he was gonna go park another car and he'd come get Mitrice's
car and move that. So, pretty much he's saying like, just hold on five minutes. So she agreed. So then as soon as the
valet guy drove away with another customer's car, she got out of her car and then she
climbed into the valet guys car like another car that he hadn't park or it was his car just
had the valet guys car. When the valet guy and came
back now get Mitrice's car. He saw that Mitrice was in this other car. And he was like, what are you doing? Her response to him was quote,
It's subliminal, end quote. So the valet guy's,
like, what are you doing? And then she later
explained to the valet guy that she needed to avenge
the death of Michael Jackson. And then she just like sat in the car digging through all of the
CDs that were in this car. Wasn't her car. So then Mitrice she handed
the valet guy, her car keys. And then she turns to the valet guy and she
asks is Vanessa here? And the ballet guy is like I don't know who the hell Vanessa is. Mitrice warned him to
watch out for a woman with tattooed arms. Mitrice walks into the restaurant. She's just kind of like browsing around. And the valet guy tells
the hostess to keep her eye on Mitrice because she was
acting just really strange. So Mitrice had asked for a table for one and she was led into the main dining area. Now, again, like this
place is super fancy. I mean, people don't come dressed in like tuxedos and stuff, but
you know, a little bit nicer. So Mitrice did stand out a little bit because she was wearing
a Bob Marley t-shirt and then she had a long
sleeve shirt underneath it. She had on fans, a pink alligator
belt to hold up her jeans. She also had on Rastafari and hat. So she orders a cocktail. And then she also ordered a
Kobe steak, which is like $65. Not that it matters,
but like treat yourself. But while waiting for her food to come out she noticed like a table. It was nearby and it
had a group of people. It was like seven different people. So she approaches this table
and she kind of invites herself in their party or the
people that were seated. They said that Mitrice was just making really strange comments. She told this table that
she was from another planet that her mom was planet earth. So then Mitrice's food comes out. So she goes back to her
table and she eats for $65. It better be a life-changing steak So then once Mitrice
was done eating her meal she went back over to the table of people
that she was talking to. Once they were done eating,
they paid their bill and then they were getting ready to leave. And I guess Mitrice, she got up and she started to leave with them. She told the people at the table that she was going to Hawaii soon and that she would contact
them when she arrived. So then Mitrice was following
the seven individuals out of the restaurant because they
were getting ready to leave. So Mitrice was like following
with them, but she was stopped by the manager and said
like, where are you going? You haven't paid your bill yet. And her bill was like, it was like $90 for the two things she ordered. And so the manager is
like, you haven't paid. And Mitrice was saying
that her bill was paid for. That the people at the
table, they paid for it. And the manager said like, no. The manager asked Mitrice,
well, they didn't pay for it. You have to pay us. How are you gonna pay for this? And Mitrice responded by
saying, quote, I'm busted. What are we gonna do? Mitrice also told the manager
that she was from Mars. She emptied out her pockets
to show that she had no money. So since she was not able to pay the bill and her odd behavior the manager told the
hostess to call the police. While on the phone with the police the hostess explained what was going on. And the hostess explained
that like this customer she's on drugs, or she might have
some like mental issues. So police were en route. Okay. So then the hostess allowed Mitrice to make a phone call. And the only phone
number Mitrice could seem to remember was Mildred's
number her great-grandmother. She called her great
grandmother, Mildred and Mildred actually offered to
give her credit card information over the phone so that
she could pay the bill. But unfortunately the restaurant they couldn't accept her credit
card number over the phone. She had to be there in
person to like, you know sign the receipt, which
I think is really stupid. Cause I feel like I've been places where they've accepted credit
card payment over the phone but I don't know. So now it was like 9:00 PM at night and three officers
arrived at Geooffrey's and the officers asked
Mitrice some questions like what's going on, trying to see like
where she's at mentally. And Mitrice says that her wallet was in her car and she could pay for it. Cause her wallet was simply in her car. So then the officers, they started looking through her car to retrieve her wallet. But when they were going through her car they realized it was a mess. There was just stuff,
everywhere, papers, garbage, items all over the place. They could not find her wallet but they did find her license. And they also found a
small amount of marijuana. Like it wasn't enough
to warrant an arrest. It could easily just have been taken care of with a misdemeanor ticket. So then Mitrice was given a sobriety test and she ended up passing. Like she wasn't under the influence of anything when they
couldn't locate her wallet. That's when they asked the manager, okay what do you want to do? Do you want to let her go? Or do you want to like press charges? And the owner decided that he wanted to press
charges against Mitrice. So at this time Mitrice is 24 years old. I don't know if I ever mentioned that but she was handcuffed and she was placed into the back of the patrol car and she was taken down
to Sheriff's station. So I believe that the restaurant was on the phone with Mitrice's
great grandmother, Mildred and then Mildred was told
that Mitrice was going down to the police station,
Mildred called Mitrice's mother and let her know like what was going on. So then Mitrice's mother
called the police station. And she had asked the
police station is Mitrice going to be released tonight or tomorrow? Like what's gonna happen because she was gonna drive down there to the police station to pick up Mitrice. But if she wasn't going be released she didn't wanna bother
driving all the way out there to pick her up because she had a 10 year old daughter at home who was still sleeping. So it was just gonna be an inconvenience to drive all the way down there for her to not even get released. The police station informed her. It will be released tomorrow and we'll make sure to
have Mitrice call you and let you know, like
what's going on and whatnot. Mitrice's mother is like,
okay, well, you know, I'll wait for the call. At least like I don't
have to drive all the way out there tonight. And Mitrice's mother later
on would say like, Oh I was kind of glad knowing
that she was safe in like locked up all night
versus like her just being out there because really out of character for her
to be acting like this. And I don't want her out on the street because who knows what would happen. So her mom was kind of not
happy that she got in trouble had peace of mind knowing that Mitrice what would be in a safe spot. So once Mitrice arrived,
she was put in a cell. She was being charged for possession of marijuana
and defrauding an innkeeper which I thought was weird
because I thought she didn't have enough
marijuana to be charged with but that's what she
was being charged with. And for some odd reason,
when Mitrice was arrested the deputy who was like filing
the paperwork and whatnot they made no mention and no
notes about Mitrice's behavior. Like she was acting and
saying strange things. And normally you would
kind of take note of this. There was nothing written in the reports that would
suggest any questions existed about her mental state at the time. The reason for this has
been heavily debated. And the general consensus seems to believe that this was done either to
avoid the additional paperwork or because the deputy felt
that Mitrice was fine. Had she been written in as
possibly being mentally unstable? She could have been held
under a closer observation or she could have even been brought down for a 72 hour psych
holds and evaluation. According to the call log book Mitrice had placed four
different phone calls. And it was seen as kind of weird because
she made four phone calls but were unsure who they were to. One of them was not to
her great-grandmother which was the only phone
number she seemed to remember. And unfortunately of
course, like that night normally in jail, like there's a payphone and anyone who got arrested
can make a phone call. Normally when they make these phone calls they are recorded. But of course payphone was out
of order that day or night. So they had Mitrice use
the phone on their desk. Like it was just a normal phone and it wasn't recorded. Nobody knows who she
called multiple deputies who were interviewed. They all heard Mitrice
talking on the phone. They don't know who she
was talking to or what the can't remember what
exactly she was saying but they know that she was on
the phone and she was talking whether she was talking
to somebody or not. She could have even just
been talking to herself pretending she was on the phone. But I guess we'll never really know. Meanwhile, at home Mitrice mother, she was like getting ready for bed. She was kind of waiting to
see if Mitrice was gonna call her, but she never came through. So. Okay, well I'll wake up
early and then I'll head out there and get it all settled
and see what's going on. That was her plan. Her mother had gone asleep. So then September 17th at 5:20
AM, Latice, Mitrice's mother she calls the Sheriff's station and asked what it would cost to bail her daughter out or like how it works. Really. She was informed that Mitrice had been
released overnight, suspish. So then when she finds out
that Mitrice has been released she's like, what and she asks, why has Mitrice been released? Like you guys told me she wasn't gonna be really still this morning. The person on the phone
with her mom said, well she was released because she had no previous
record and her charges they were not like big enough
to warrant holding her. It would have been against the department's
policy to hold her overnight. So why did they bring her? I don't know. Again, I know nothing. They said on the phone
that Mitrice was told. Okay. She could, you could stay
in the cell if you want to. That way you have
somewhere to stay tonight. And Mitrice turned them
down and then they also offered her to stay in the lobby and wait. And Mitrice also said, no, no thanks. So they told Mitrices's mom
on the phone, this, like she didn't want to stay. We can't force her. When asked about Mitrice's state of mind the Sheriff's department
said that she was showing like no signs of a mental illness. She wasn't intoxicated. She was fine. Quote, she's an adult, end quote. They're not wrong about that. Like, they can't force her to stay if she doesn't want to stay. But so Mitrice had been
released at 12:15 AM. She had no car. She had no money. Her wallet was in her car, no money. She had no phone, no
food, nothing like 12:15 in the morning she was released, bye. What are you supposed to do? She can't get anywhere
12:15 in the morning. A young woman, like, geez. Yeah, she'll be fine. Her car was actually at an impound center that
was like 15 miles away. So it's not like she was flipping clothes. And even if she did get there most likely they would be closed. So like, what was she supposed to do? At no point did deputies
or anyone offer her a ride. So again, what is she supposed to do? What did they think was gonna happen? So then Latice, Mitrice's mother. She calls everyone. She's calling everyone to see like, Hey have you heard from Mitrice? But she's calling around
just trying to see maybe Mitrice like showed
up somewhere and like just didn't let her know. I don't know. So when she's making these calls she's realizing nobody
has heard from Mitrice like nobody knows where she's at. And she starts to kind of like freak. She starts to panic as any of us would. So then Latice is feeling worrying. She's feeling scared. So she, and just really upset. So she calls the Sheriff's station back. It's been 15 minutes since
her last call, she calls them back and she's like, I want to
file a missing persons report on my daughter because nobody's seen her. Nobody knows what's what's going on. Like I'm really worried. And she was told over the phone that they usually wait about 24 hours unless there are serious circumstances. But for the most part you should wait 24 hours
because she might show up. The police station had
convinced Latice to just wait she'll show up. Just wait. So then back at the police station it's about 6:30 AM the Sheriff's station. They receive a phone call
from a guy named Bill Smith. And he's a retired reporter who lived in an area called Monte Nido. It's out there Malibu area. But over there, there's a
lot of canyons, hiking area. There's branches. It's not far from the station. It's like six miles
from the police station. Anyways, So this Bill guy, he
calls the Sheriff's office. He says, there's this young lady. She's a slim black woman with Afro hair walking
through his backyard. Those are his words. According to this guy, Mr. Smith he asked the woman, is she all right? Like, first of all, you're in my backyard but are you all right? And she said that she was just resting. So then this guy, Mr. Smith, he goes back into doing whatever it is
he was doing at the time. He kinda like goes back to doing that. And then he looks out
his window again to see if she's still there and she's gone. So he called the police because
it's not like there's houses like crammed on top of
one another out there. It's like a lot of land and whatnot. So it's like where this lady come from. First of all, second of
all, where she going? Third of all, why is she in my yard? So that's why he called the
police in the first place. Cause at first I was like why do you call the police on that? But I guess people just call the police. So then a deputy goes
out to see this Bill guy and check on to see if
the woman's still there. But when the sheriff went out there they didn't find anybody. They didn't see anybody who
was just wandering around they didn't find anyone
who fit the description. So that was really that. So then Mitrice's mother Latice she arrived at the station
and she finally was like, okay I need to file a missing persons report. It's been a couple of hours now. She still hasn't shown up. I need to file this report. So while she was there, the
police officers were like, Oh we got a call from this
guy out in Monte Nido. We got a call from this guy out there. And they think like they
spotted her out there. So then Latice was given directions where this guy's house was or
like how to get there. So Latice, she files the
missing persons report. And then she heads out
to the area where maybe somebody saw Mitrice. Latice would say that
she had that really bad, like gut feeling. She was like, I just know something's up. Something's not right now. Now the area that Mitrice
may have been at, it was like really difficult to get
there as extremely rugged and remote with like steep
canyons, difficult terrain. It wasn't easy to like go looking for somebody or something out there. Latice, Mitrice's mother. She stated that Mitrice,
she hated walking. She did not like being out in nature. And she was deathly afraid of the dark. So didn't make sense as to
why she would be out there because there's like no
street lights or anything? It was at nighttime. It was, it's like pitch black out there. It's just the Moonlight,
which is kind of nice. But like, not really if you're scared of the
dark, I'm still talking. Why am I still talking. 48 hours after Mitrice's
disappearance on September 19th that's when the first
official search went ahead. And some reports say it was eight hours after Mitrice's disappearance but the family says it was 48 hours later. So it's like a big difference too. So they brought out a tracking dog or the search dogs that smell stuff. And they brought him to Bill's house. Mr. Smith remember him. So they brought the dog out
there to see if he picked up Mitrice's scent in hopes that they get led in the right direction. And the dog picks up Mitrice's scent and the dog led them up to
like a nearby neighbors house. And then the scent was lost. So the search lasted about eight hours and then they called it off. So then four days go by
it's now September 23rd. And the case is transferred
from LAPD missing persons unit to their robbery homicide division. So the first thing that
they wanted to do was examine Mitrice's car and
see if there's any like signs or indications of where
maybe she was going. Like her plan for the day was phone numbers,
whatever they could find. Maybe they'll find something in the car. Once detectives are going through her car they come across Mitrice's
phone and her wallet which is in the car and in
her wallet was her debit card. So they check like her
big bank statements to make she's not withdrawing
money or anything or they go through her bank statements and they see like she has over
$2,000 in her bank account. So she could have easily paid
her bill in the first place. If she had been able to go
get her wallet from her car. So it was kind of like, Oh my gosh all this could have just been prevented. If she was able to go get her wallet they also found her journal in her car. And so they go through her journal. It will kind of help them see
maybe what her mindset was before disappearing and
a psychologist working with LAPD speculated that
Mitrice was most likely suffering from some kind of mental
illness specifically like maybe possibly it
was bipolar disorder. The media picks up the story. And they're saying that a young African-American
woman has been arrested and brought to the Sheriff's station and then allowed her to leave on her own despite questions of her mental health. The arguments quickly became a question of why deputies didn't offer her a ride. When just a few years earlier,
Mel Gibson was arrested for a DUI and he was
brought to the same station. He was booked and everything. And then once he went was released police gave him a ride
back to his vehicle. So everyone's saying like
a famous actor, Mel Gibson why are they giving him a ride? And they're not able to give
a young woman a ride at 12 in the morning when she has
no car, a wallet or a phone. Like, it's a good point. I agree. So Mitrice's family, obviously
they're really angry. And plus they're heartbroken,
like where's her daughter at? Where is their daughter at? So Mitrice's mother wants to know like why her daughter was released
when she had been assured that she would be held
and not released until the morning the Sheriff's
department denied any knowledge of Mitrice's possible
mental health issues. But there was an email from September 20th between the stations,
Lieutenant and captain which the Lieutenant explained that he felt she was acting unusual and uneasy about letting her go. Like this is what it says in the email. And then the Sheriff's station. They stand by the fact
that they had no idea and they don't have any
recollection of writing this email. There's no way they didn't say this. Even though there was like
an email side note side note. These cases, especially when like maybe the police are
like the bad ones here why don't they just own up and
say, we made a great mistake. Like, I don't get that. Why do they always stand by the fact that they
did everything right? And then in the end they don't. And then it makes them look even worse. Like why do they do that? Can someone explain? So due to like obvious conflicting information,
tensions were growing between the family and law enforcement. So Latice, Mitrices's mother she hired a civil rights attorney several months have passed but the family and friends
still, they searched the area. They handed out flyers trying to keep and bring awareness about
Mitrice's disappearance just reminding people
to keep their eyes open. And don't forget about her. And then January 9th, 2010. So four months after the disappearance, authorities, volunteers, search and rescue teams totally
into about 250 individuals they searched the area
that Mitrice was last seen. They were looking for
anything, a shoelace, clothing, crumbs. They were just looking for anything that would
hopefully give them some answers and nothing, not a shred
of evidence was found. Shortly after the search for Mitrice, Michael, Mitrice's real father he's driving out to Las Vegas. He reports seeing
Mitrice and he alleges to have seen her working as a
prostitute and speculates that she may have been
recruited by someone she met through the Playboy mansion
or dancing at her job. And then according to Michael,
he says that he called out her name, he was
yelling Mitrice, Mitrice. And he runs after her. But the woman, whoever it was,
she ran off into the crowd. But Michael was like, I
saw her, I know I did. So March 29th which is like six months
after the disappearance Mitrice's family is brought
in to the Sheriff's station. Sheriff's department to be
shown the surveillance footage. Now they've been asking for
this footage for a long time but the police officers
constantly said over and over again that there
was no surveillance cameras and that they have cameras in the station but they don't record. They're just there to monitor. They kept telling the
family over and over again. There is no footage. There is nothing, nothing at all. They magically find this footage because the civil rights attorney was
like really pushing for it heavy, so good for them. So frustrating because if they didn't have an attorney
or somebody, I don't know but they probably wouldn't
have seen the footage anyway. So out of thin air, this footage appeared. Magically appears, poof,
the footage, Oh, weird. They watched the footage
and they see that, okay. Like Mitrice is acting really weird. She's holding onto the cell bars and she's like swinging
her body from side to side. She looked like she was
really agitated, annoyed. Her family says her behavior is abnormal. She's acting, it's obvious. She's acting very strange. And the Sheriff's department disagree. They're like, no, she looked normal to us. Like there's, that's why we released her. But based off the footage the official release
time was about 12:28 AM. The jailer walks her out the door. And as the jailer is reentering another deputy can be
seen exiting the building. The family had been told that no deputies were present
at the time of her release. And now they begin to wonder like, Hey did this deputy give her a ride? Did he have something to do with it? Did he see something like,
where's this guy yet? So then the deputy that was
seen leaving, he was interviewed or asked questions and he
said, I didn't see her leaving. I don't remember. So these guys are super helpful. Now in June, a former friend of Mitrice's believes he spotted
her in Las Vegas as well. So according to this guy,
he saw her in a casino. He called out her name. She appeared nervous and then ran away. So since this is two times now someone spotted her or thinks
they spotted her in Las Vegas. Investigators were sent
out there to investigate. More than 70 people had
reported seeing Mitrice there. But after looking around and investigating questioning people they did not come across her. And they couldn't seem to
find where she could be at. So that was the end of that. So then August 9, 2010, two
park Rangers were out there in that Monte Nito place. And then they're like
walking around hiking this like area extremely
difficult to walk in this area. And it's known as the dark Canyon. And it's incredibly steep. It's difficult to maneuver
through this Canyon. Like they do not recommend
anybody really go out there because it's rough. Okay. During their descent they kinda like discover
what seems to be a body. They see a skull with like curls of dark
hair, still attached. Nearby there were women's clothing. The remains later would
be confirmed to be those of Mitrice. So Mitrice's right leg was
located about six feet up from the Canyon, from where
her body had been found. And then there were no signs of animals having found
or disturbed the body. Her left arm was flexed tightly. And what baffles law enforcement
officials is the idea that Mitrice could have been lying in that Canyon for nearly a year. And yet no animals found her. Her body seemed undisturbed
this particular area. I mean, they have coyotes,
they have scavenger Berge. So that's suspish. Also this area where
Mitrice's remains were found it's very difficult to get there. So the cornel like couldn't
get up there with their car. Apparently they had to
take Mitrice's body up by a helicopter and they
weren't able to get pictures of how Mitrice's body and
her remains were found. Luckily, one of the park ringer guys he actually took a
photo on his cell phone. And that was like the photo
that was used to see the scene. So according to the medical examiner there was no signs of trauma
to the body, no outward signs of physical violence, nothing
to explain what happened. Her cause of death is
ruled to be undetermined. The only clothing that was recovered was her jeans and a belt and bra two of her shirts were missing
socks, underwear, shoes they were all missing. They weren't located like
around the area at all. Police said animals must
have gotten to them. So what they're saying
is animals now know how to undress people. Better watch out you guys,
next time you're out camping. A coyote might try and
take off your clothes. I'm being facetious because why wouldn't
they mess with the body if it's been almost like a year now? Just doesn't make any sense. So Latice, Mitrice's mother decided to hire a forensic anthropologist. So he takes a look at the
photographs that were taken when they found Mitrice's body. And remember they were taken on a cell phone because they couldn't get like proper photos of
the scene and whatnot. When they originally found Mitrice's body her skull was completely detached and it was resting upside
on the upper torso. Five of her neck bones were not recovered. So it's hard to believe
her body was still intact which was what the sheriff
and lieutenants were saying. When they found her body everything was like untouched,
but they were lying. We don't know why, why are you lying? And then the forensic
anthropologists had a great deal of questions about the way
Mitrice's remains were discovered in an interview, he was explaining that the left arm, it was like flexed. And it was like in a weird position something that would not happen if you died the way
she had supposedly died he knew like it could not be created by environmental conditions
where the body was found. There was nothing present to hold her arm in like such a position
that was defying gravity. And he says, the initial
assumption should have been homicide. And the scene should have been
treated as such for example Mitrice's hair wasn't examined at all. Some hair was still attached to her skull but other hairs were found in nearby. There were some reports that
said it was like her hair. And there were some other
reports that said it was like someone else's hair, but
an earring was found tangled up in her hair as well. And it was not attached to her
body, but it was an earring which Mitrice was not
reported to be wearing at the time that she vanished,
that wasn't examined at all. And then Mitrice's remains
and clothing were not examined for fibers or hairs related
to the possible suspect. The surrounding area
wasn't checked for blood. He noticed that Mitrice's
teeth had a pinkish hue to them which could suggest
strangulation, but the neck bones are necessary to determine if it was a strangulation,
but they were never recovered. No one knows where her neck bones are. So then July, 2011
Mitrice's body was exhumed, it was brought to the LA
Sheriff's department, crime lab for examination. The coroner came to the
same conclusion, which was undetermined cause of death
and no signs of homicide, which Why, I don't know. So this upsets the family as it should. Latice and Michael they both
separately filed lawsuits against the LA Sheriff's
department, which was settled. And both of them were awarded
a good amount of money. The Sheriff's department, they do not and will not seem to admit that they did any
wrongdoing on their part. So the family reached out to California, attorney General's office asking them to review the
Sheriff's department's handling of the case. In 2016, they state that they were going to begin criminal investigation in connection with the case. And after a year long investigation they concluded insufficient evidence to support a criminal prosecution
for destruction, alteration or concealment of evidence. So the family was trying to
sue the Sheriff's department for not doing the right thing. Okay. I mean, they originally
were trying to hide the fact that they had security footage. They let Mitrice out, even
though multiple people say that Mitrice was acting weird
or seemed to mentally ill they let her go without her
phone, wallet, anything. So yes, I think they should
be in trouble for that. Come on, this could
have all been prevented. So it was later explained that sadly even if they had discovered evidence to prosecute the people involved
at the Sheriff's station there would be little that they could do because the statute of
limitation, it ran out in 2014. I think the family just
honestly wanted closure and for people to be held
accountable, which they deserve. So there are many people who
believe that there are answers as to what happened to
Mitrice and they're out there but someone has to know the truth and hopefully someone will speak up and come forward and say what happened. For now, they're just theories as to what happened that are floating around. There's a lot of theories. There's some theories that say the police department was trying to cover up some kind of bigger
involvement with something. But I couldn't quite find like an answer as to what they were hiding,
but that was one theory. Another theory is just that Mitrice was suffering
from a mental illness. She went down to that Canyon and she died. And then another theory is that the LA sheriff
department played a role in Mitrice's death. Some people believe that letting
her go was purely negligent while others believe
the investigation itself may have been a mass coverup
to conceal criminal acts by the deputies. And then the final theory suggests that Mitrice's death was a homicide and that Mitrice may
have come across someone who offered her a ride. And then she was later murdered. Or when she approached
the dark Canyon area someone maybe like saw her or found her or they were down there too. And then they killed her. If Mitrice had simply been held in jail or held in the office or
given like a ride home this story would be completely different. The family hopes that they will somehow find
a way to obtain the answers and get justice for their daughter. And yeah, that's a story about Mitrice about how shitty that police department is and how they hold no
responsibility for what they did. If you know anything about
what had happened to Mitrice I'll leave the description box below maybe where you can
reach out and speak up. I should probably do that with all of the stories I
talk about, which I will. Okay, good call. Anyways, so this story is odd like what happened to Mitrice? Nobody knows the location
where she was found. It's so hard to get to that area. I feel like there's no way she would have just wandered over there. And if she did wander over
there, why weren't the animals, like how was her body still
in such like, quote unquote like good condition when
it has been out there for almost a year? I don't know, like were the neighbors
looked out more heavily? It seems like the police
department didn't even want to deal with it. So anyways, I would love
to hear your theories on what you think may have happened. Thank you guys so much for
hanging out with me today. I hope that you have a really good day. You make good choices,
please be safe out there. And I never know how to end these cause it's always like a really sad story. And then I'm like, bye,
but other than that I'll be seeing you guys very soon. Bye.
